Long Road to China - Our Adoption Story

Donations can be made nation wide at any Trustmark National Bank through the account:

Phillip Smith or Niki J. Smith's Adoption Account

If you would like to mail a donation, please mail it to

Phil or Niki Smith

P.O. Box 332 Rienzi, MS 38865

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Tuesday & Wednesday update

I've started to write a
couple times, but I'm so tired by the time I sit down.......and Phil keeps
stealing the puter to upload pics. ;0) Thank
you everyone for keeping up with our journey!
I cannot even begin to tell you the overwhelming joy GiGi has already
brought to our family! She is sooooo
amazing!!!! She is already responding to
GiGi as her name & has said (in this order) DaDa, Bubba, Sissy, &
Mama! I honestly thought Monday that
Dada meant something else in Chinese or that she didn't understand who Dada was
to her. However, that is absolutely not
the case at all! If Phil isn't paying
attention to her she starts yelling DaDa!
When he turns to look at her, she gets so tickled & teased that she
will laugh her huge laugh & cover her eyes & put her head down! This is a game she loves to play &
needless to say DaDa loves it too!

Yesterday was a hard day! We
had to return to the notary where we first got GiGi. She definitely realized it & was so
uneasy! She would not let anyone hold
her but me. We could not comfort her in
any way. When we let her down, she would
grab my hand & run to the door. It
was just heart wrenching to see her so scared of abandonment! I cannot imagine all she has endured in her
short 31months of life! After we got
back to Crowne Plaza & she woke up from her nap she was better but much clingier
all day.

We went to KFC to eat
& it was so good! Why? Well, try to
eat out of a snack machine for 3 days & then you might know! Lol There are not many places non-Chinese to eat
close. We went to Wal-Mart (Yes, we are
in China & still going to the American places.). When we got back, Macy taught GiGi how to write
with markers & that was so much fun!
GiGI got a little bit of marker on herself which she did not like at
first! Suddenly she was fond of tattooing
herself with the marker. Well, it was so
funny to her & when she laughs & shows her teeth & dimples she does
about whatever she wants! Lol (When Phil
downloads those pics, I’ll post her tat job!)
Then, it was bath time which is one of GiGi’s favorite things! After she & Macy Jade took a bath, it was
lotion time. GiGi remembered lotion time
from the night before & Miss Independent thought she had to do it all
herself & then she lotioned Macy too! Well, they had a lotion bath after
the water bath but who could complain???
Macy had been taking care of GiGi for days & it was the sweetest
thing to see GIGi returning care to Macy.
I know Macy wasn’t a big fan of layers of lotion but she just let GiGi
cover her however she pleased! Toe nails
painted for all girls before bed & GiGI was unsure but when Macy got her
nails painted, GiGi thought it was great!

Today, when GiGi woke up,
Colt got her out of the crib so we told him to take her to the bathroom. He wasn’t so sure at all & started
telling us he didn’t know how to get her on the potty (she has her own child
potty). He was such a trooper & took
her in there as we told him we had faith in him. Well, Colt had to do nothing else because Miss
Independent took care of everything once he walked her in there!

I have to brag! GiGi might have said Mama last, but I got the
first kiss today! ;0))))

I can now ask her for a
kiss & she will pucker & lean toward me……talking about melting this
mama’s heart!!!!!! However, I have no
doubt she would steal any heart because she is so sweet & silly! She has not appeared to have any problems
with adjusting to our family & seems to be so smart & friendly! She will say “Hi” & “Bye” while she waves
at anyone. She tries to mimic any &
everything that we do! If she does
something one time, she remembers it even if it is the next day! She is potty trained, feeds herself, reaches
to hold your hand when we walk, brushes her own teeth, & has a smile that
will make you love her in a second! I
cannot wait for each of you to meet her!

I’m equally as proud of
Colt & Macy Jade at how they take care of her. Love her so so very much! And has adapted as if GiGi has always been
with us! Our completeness after a year
wait has been far more than I could have ever dreamed! I know we are all doing so super well, but
please continue to pray for us! I pray
& thank God for each of you daily!

Words cannot explain the
happiness we have in our hearts - everyone of us........ALL 5 members of our
family! I feel bad that I've not blogged
more often but I'm so taken away by our completeness that I'm just trying to
absorb it all! Phil & I keep saying
that we are waiting for that “strange” place where we are like what……we just
adopted an orphan from China. However,
it just isn’t happening! GiGi is just
part of our family; she is our daughter/sister & nothing else! I wish I could in words describe the harmony
we feel having her with us & she appears every bit as happy!

Thank you so much to
everyone that has supported us! We read every comment & are over-joyed at
every "like" we have because that lets us know so many of you are
following us! Please know this journey is
also your journey because we couldn't have done it without you! Thank You!